Children of the late civil rights icon, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. decried the disparaging remarks allegedly made by U.S. President Donald Trump against Africa.

The 2018 Martin Luther King Jr. Day was used to slam Trump at various protests tagged: ‘Rally against Trump’ in several cities in the U.S. on Monday, the official Federal holiday in the U.S. to honour King.

At gatherings across the nation, activists, residents and teachers honoured the late civil rights leader on what would have been his 89th birthday and ahead of the 50th anniversary of his assassination in Tennessee.

Trump allegedly used a vulgarity to describe African countries and questioned the need to allow more Haitians into the U.S. during a meeting with senators on immigration last week.

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He also is said to have asked why the country could not have more immigrants from nations like Norway but Trump had said that was not the language he used.

Trump, while signing the proclamation for King’s Day on Wednesday, praised him for dedicating his life to all Americans while also dedicating his weekly address to the nation, released on Monday, to King.

“Dr King’s dream is our dream, it is the American dream, it’s the promise stitched into the fabric of our nation, etched into the hearts of our people and written into the soul of humankind.

“It is the dream of a world where people are judged by who they are, not how they look or where they come from,” Trump has said.

King’s writings spoke of injustices against African-Americans, Native Americans and colonisation, among others.